Ideas, inventions and innovations

Commercial Evaluation Programs
There are two basic types of commercial evaluation programs: unstructured and structured. An 
unstructured evaluation involves a nonsystematic review of your invention; a structured 
evaluation involves a review according to predetermined criteria. 
Many legitimate groups use unstructured evaluation procedures. Unfortunately, they may not 
provide you with much feedback and it is typically difficult to check the quality of their 
evaluation. Many of these programs are really screening mechanisms for some organization; i.e., 
their purpose is to identify inventions suitable for that organization, not to help you determine 
the commercial feasibility of your idea or invention. In addition, many innovation center 
programs that perform unstructured commercial evaluations are heavily oriented toward 
technological advances and potential start-ups, not toward independent inventors seeking to 
license their inventions. 
The only widely used formal commercial evaluation format specifically oriented toward the 
needs of independent inventors as well as entrepreneurs is the Preliminary Innovation Evaluation 
System (PIES) format. Considerable research effort went into the development of the PIES 

---

format. It has been used to evaluate more than 8,000 ideas and inventions of widely varying 
degrees of technical sophistication. 
Readers who want more information about the PIES format may contact the Innovation Institute 
(I2) (Rt. 2, Box 184, Everton, MO 65646) or the WIN (Wal-Mart Innovation Network) 
Innovation Center, College of Business Administration, Southwest Missouri State University, 
Springfield, MO 65804; 417-836-5680). In addition to an evaluation report covering 39 criteria, 
either I2 or the WIN Center can provide you with a copy of the PIES-VI evaluation manual, 
Exploring the Innovation Process, which explains each variable in some detail. The manual is 
designed to help you better understand your evaluation report. (For more information on the 
WIN evaluation process, see Appendix A.) 
______________________________________________________________________________